The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1887-12-14
we had no more serenading.
The whole thing formed laughable I'm.
cilent I'm n tragic business

The whole thing formed a laughable In
cident In tragic business.
Well the more Sir Henry held of the more
Sorais came on as is not uncommon in such
cases, till at last things got very queer in.
deed Evidently she was, by some strange
perversty Of mind, quite blinded TO the true
state Of the case and I, for one, greatly
dreaded the moment of her awakening.
Sorais was dangerous woman to be mixed
up with, either with or without ones owr
consent. At last the evil moment came. as
saw it must come. One fine day, Good hav.
ing gone out hawking, Sir Henry and were
sitting quietly talking over the situation, es.
pecially with reference to Sorais, when a
court messenger arrived with a written note
which we with some difficulty deciphered,
and which was to the effect that "the Queen
Sorais commanded the attendance OF the
Lord Incubu in her private apartments.
whittier he would be conducted by the
bearer"
| "On my word!" groaned Sir Henry,
! Cant you 60 instead, old fellowf'
mot IL l know it," said with vigor. ~
had rather face wounded elephant with O
shot gun. Wash up your own dirty dishes,
my boy. II you will be SO fascinating YOU
must take the consequences Amt you lust
in for it now. that's ALI"
"You remind me of when was going to
be logged ut school and the other boys came
TO console me-" he said, gloomily. what
right has this COMPOUNDED queen tn command
my attendance, should like to knowa
won't CO."
"But you must; you are one Of her officers
and bound to obey her, and she knows It.
And after all it will soon be over.n
That's just what they used to say" he
said again. ~ only hope she won't put a
knife into me. l believe that she is quite
capable Of it," And Off lie started very
faintheartedly, and no wonder.
sat and waited, and at the end Of about
forty-fve minutes he returned, looking a good
deal worse than when he went.
"Give me something to drink be said
hoarsely.
I got him a cup Of wine, and asked what
was the matter.
"What is the matteri Why, IL ever there
was trouble there's trouble now. You know
when left youl Well, was shown straight
into Sorais' private chamber, and wonderful
place 1t is; and there she sat, quite alone.
upon silken couch at the end Of the room,
playing gently upon that either of hers.
stood before her, and for while she took no
notice of me. but kept on playing and singing
little, and very sweet music it was. At
last she looked up and smiled.
$50 thou art come" she said. i thought
that perchance thou hadst gone about the
Queen Nyleptha's business. Thou art ever
on her business, and / doubt not good ser.
want and a true
"To this l merely bowed and said was
there to receive the queens word.
"'Ah, yes. would talk with thee, but be
aata II
and she made room for me beside her on the
couch, placing herself with her back against
the end, so as to have view Of my face.
ait is not meet, said, that should make
myself equal with the queen
AZ said be seated was her answer: 80 sat
down, and she set to work to look at me with
those dark eyes of hers. There she sat, like an
incarnate spirit Of beauty, hardly talking at
all, and when she did, very low, but all the
while looking ut Inc. There was a white
flower in her black hair, and tried to keep
my eyes on it and count the petals, but 1t was
Of no use. At last, whether it was her gaze,
or the perfume on her hair, or what do not
know, but / began to feel Is though was
being mesmerized. At last she reused her.
self.
Incubu,' she said, lowest thou powerP
II replied that supposed all men loved
power of one sort or another
"'Thou shalt have it, she said. Lowest
thou wealth.
II said liked wealth for what II brought.
"'Thou shalt have it, she said. And lowest
thou beautyf
"To this replied that was very fond of
statuary and architecture, or something of
that sort, at which she frowned, and there
was pause. By this time my nerves were
on such stretch that was shaking like
leaf. knew that something awful was going
to happen, but she held me under kind OF
spell, and could not help myself.
"'Incubu,' she said at length 'wouldst thou
be kings Listen, wouldst thou be kingi
Behold, stranger, am minded to make thes
king Of all Zu-Vendisay and husband of So.
rails of the Night. Nay, peace, and hear me.
To no man among my people had thus
opened out my secret heart, but thou art an
outlander, and therefore do / speak without
shame, knowing all I have to offer and how
hard it had been to thee to ask. See, a crown
lies at thy feet, my lord Incubu, and with
that fortune woman whom some have
wished to WOO. Now mayst thou answer
"'Oh, Sorais,' said, pray do not speak
thus'-you see l had not time to pick and
choose my words-'because you are putting
us both in an awkward position. am going
to marry your sister Nyleptha, Sorais, and
love her.
"Next moment it struck me that I had said
an awful thing, and looked up to sec the
results. When ! spoke, Sorais' face was
hidden in her hands, and as my words reached
her she slowly raised it, and shrank back
dismayed. IL was ashy white, and her eyes
were flaming. She got on to her feet and
oaap1a1 IN ha nbnEtpU INIT ha axuf,1 ths,,,
was that she was so quiet about it all. Once
she looked at a side table OH which lay dag.
ger, and from it to me, as though she thought
Of killing me; but she did not take itup. At
last she spoke one word, and one only
"sGor
"And went, and glad enough was to get
out CT it, and here I am. Give me another
cup of wine. there's good fellow, and tell
mo what is TO be DONE"
I shook my head, for the affair was indeed
serious. Az one of the poets says,
Hell hath no fury like woman scorned,
more especially If the woman is queen and
Sorais, and indeed l feared the very worst,
including imminent danger to ourselves.
"Nyleptha must be told of all this at once"
! said, "and perhaps / had better tell her;
she might receive your account with sus-
picion. Who Is captain Of her guard to-
nightf
"Good."
"Very WE'LL then, there will be no chance
Of her being got at. Don't look surprised.
! don't think that her sister would stick at
that. suppose one must tell Good of what
has happened"
"Oh, don't know" said Sir Henry. ut
would hurt his feelings, poor fellowl You
see, he takes a lively personal interest in
Sorais."
"That's true; and after all perhaps there is
no need to tell him. He will find out the
truth soon enough. Now, you mark my
words: Sorais will throw in her lot with
Nasta, who is sulking up in the north there,
and there will he such war as has not been
known In Zu-Vendis for centuries. Look
therel' and pointed TO two court messengers
who were speeding away from the door Of
Sorais' private apartments. snow follow
me-" and ran up stairway into an outlook
tower that rose from the roof Of our quarters,